Pour a Little off the top for a dying friend: As of April 15, support for Live on the original Xbox is being shut down. According to Microsoft's Marc Whitten:
"On April 15 we will discontinue the Xbox LIVE service for original Xbox consoles and games, including Xbox v1 games playable on Xbox 360 and Xbox Originals. I want to start by saying this isn’t a decision we made lightly, but after careful consideration, it is clear this will provide the greatest benefit to the Xbox LIVE community."
As more shared universes become outmoded, this kind of thing will come up more and more often: Whole worlds die. People's shared fantasies cease to exist. The "place" where thousands of people spent millions of hours having fun no longer will exist.
Is this sad, but inevitable? Or should Microsoft keep Live running for old timers who have yet to move on?
Source: Gamerscore
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Girouxster1968
I bought games with a expectation that as long as xbox live was running so would my games on the network. I helped to finance xbox live with the expecation that it would be there for the games they promised. That was my contact. I purchased it without any hint that big brother would be playing GOD HAND for real. Now I feel dirty...
You might say that I am over reacting... Maybe... I have a special needs son that loves playing certain games on XBOX LIVE that are from the xbox reign. What would you do to protect your son? This is a large withdrawl from my emotional bank account. My trust is greatly diminished. For those who made this decision all I can say to you is beware the sound of one hand claping...
rayken15
About time! Kudos MS. Maybe now they'll release Halo 2 multiplayer over XBLA with upscaled graphics and new matchmaking. Pull the whole Battlefield 1943 gimmick. Seemed to work for EA. You make the old new and it's suddenly a must have purchase lol. (human psychology is so funny)
kedub57
This happens whenever new technology comes out. The old technology is kept around for a time in order to ease the transition, but at a certain point progress demands the old technology be phased out. It has just gotten to that point where the positives of ensuring compatibility with "old" xbox live are outweighed by the negatives of continuing to hamper the development of "new" xbox live. I feel bad for the people who continue to play original xbox games on live, but it must be a small percentage of the 23 million live users; otherwise, they likely would not be shutting it down. Greatest good for the greatest number sound so cliche, but in this case it is an apt platitude.
down311
I still love to play a little Halo 2 once and a while, it's soo much better than Halo 3.
drug_x
This may also mean that they plan on finally releasing Halo 2 for the XBLA with a newer matchmaking system.
FuzzyHammer
it should have happened sooner, they dragged this out way too long.
PotRoast
I blame Sterling McGarvey. If he wasn't so lonely and felt it necessary to have more than 100 strangers pretend to be his real friend then gamers could still play the superior Halo 2.
drug_x
This only seems like it will only effect people playing halo 2 still and star wars battle front, cus i honestly doubt any one else who is yet to move on from last gen, is spending a lot of money on last gen live.
Boogie1188
I might miss Halo 2 a bit, but oh well.
ThaSaltShaker
This affects everyone who owns a 360 heading into the dawn of a new console generation, it demonstrates the lack of support that Microsoft provides its previous consoles. It tells us all that once the next Xbox is released, the 360 will be rendered obsolete and therefore worthless.
UltraViolence74
this is BS.... I STILL play Halo 2, check my stats. not happy.
TKEmysterio
On a side note, if a publisher is releasing a game and a large aspect of that game is online multiplayer how long should they support that multiplayer feature??
If I buy a game with the sole purpose of playing online and all of a sudden that's taken away, regardless of the age, it seems there'd be some sort of legal action that can be taken in regards to that.
Unless of course part of the usage agreement is that it can go away at any moment. But if that's the case they need to start putting that on the outside of the games.
Str84twenty
Well if helps with the Xbox 360 online that would be really cool.
TKEmysterio
It would be nice if they'd release usage statistics to support their argument. Or at least give a reason why it's not economically feasible. Just saying we're stopping it, doesn't really tell us anything as to why.
Like Penetrator said... I'm sure a lot of Halo 2 players will be mighty upset.
destryrofall
Sad day. i'm sure there will be some upset people, but overall, is the percentage of people playing original Xbox Live that high? i met all my current xbox live friends in the early days of halo 2, so good memories there. R.I.P "old" Xbox Live. you will be missed in a remember-that-show-that-had-th ose-kids-and-all-the-uncles-th at-didn't-do-anything-and-had- Bob-Saget,-yeah-that-show, kind of way.
Penetrator72
Doesn't really apply to me, but I'm sure a lot of people will be unhappy. Especially the Halo 2 players. Time to move on people.
cmdluke
who is still playing on original xbox live? Does this mean they'll finally be able to increase the friend cap?
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